“Hypnic jerk and I’m woken from a dream. We were pooling pennies for the coin-op guillotine” goes the opening line of ‘Coin Op Guillotine’ the first track on Los Campesinos! seventh album. ‘All Hell’. As far as openings go, it’s about as on brand as the band can get. And one that leaves a smile plastered across listener’s faces that remains long after the notes of the final track have faded.
It’s been seven years since the band’s last studio album. The longest they’ve ever gone between records. A lot has changed in that time. Personally. Politically. Globally. One thing that hasn’t however, is Los Campesinos!’ ability to find romance, and indeed heartbreak, in the everyday. To be so militantly, yet so poetically left wing, and their ability to relish in self-deprecation without ever once feeling on the nose.
As one might expect, there’s plenty of the above on offer across the 15 tracks on ‘All Hell’, a record that feels as self-referential as it is self-deprecating. With nods to each of the records that came before it, listening through is a joy for a long-term fans, whilst the uninitiated can be sure that this is the ultimate gateway album to LC! And while it might not be your favourite, there’s a very good chance it might just be their best.
Second track ‘Holy Smoke’ for instance is a clattering, fizzy post-punk offering that feels more akin to the band’s first three albums than anything they’ve done in years, though the e-number effervescence of those records has been replaced by something of a world weary cynicism found within later material.
Posted from: https://www.clashmusic.com/reviews/los-campesinos-all-hell/
